Tomorrow is another day ~

Good night world...Live it, Laugh it, and Love through it all! There are Hugs for All, Love to be shared and Prayers to offer up. Tomorrow is another day and if He brings you to it, He will bring you through it - even if it is a tight squeeze, trust the one who lifts you up!

I have been snowed under with classes, work and family, but I am still collecting fortunes and Bible verses!

More to come....Thank you for checking in with me!

Yours ~
Vanilla Mama

A to Z Challenge - X

A to Z Challenge – X

X, boy that is a tough one…seriously, what starts with x? There are really quite a few, but unfortunately most are food additives! Since I try to steer away from those anyway (ummm…yeah, I don’t really read labels that careful, but I do watch for sodium, most of the time).

So, I decided to cheat a little and go for X-tra! (I know, I know…please don’t roll your eyes so hard that you give yourself a headache!)

X-tra…I have quite a bit x-tra in my life. (And, yes I will continue to spell it that way – just to justify it!) I watch x-tra tv I shouldn’t, I eat x-tra food I shouldn’t, and despite reading the lables too much x-tra sodium! I work x-tra hours, put x-tra effort into my jobs, spend x-tra money I don’t have, and incur x-tra fees!

There is really quite a bit in life that I could call x-tra. And, maybe that is why I never seem to have x-tra time for the things that really light my fire. This little blog has been a way to keep those embers burning – it is fun, it makes my brain click a little – it is x-tra, but it is an x-tra that I need!

On the other hand, I don’t need x-tra sodium, x-tra tv, x-tra food – short term gain, long term loss. Sodium kicks up my blood pressures and makes my ankles look like elephant stubs, tv literally rots my brain, food makes me just plain fat. All of which takes away time from what really matters…my family, my friends, my writing.

Why do I do them? Compulsion, obsession, laziness?! Not sure…maybe all three put together.

I want to give an x-tra shout out to some people that I have really been x-tra important to me…I won’t mention them by name, but if they read this they will hopefully know who they are – CB, you are sweet, funny and just all around nice. I enjoy working with you and hope that we continue to get to know each other. CABA, we haven’t spoken lately, but you are certainly in my heart and prayers – miss you, love you! NJT, I know this move has been hard on you, but I promise you, it is going to be okay! You have made the right move for you and DT! MM – funny as all get out, keep your chin up and dig your heels in, thanks for the cookies J!

How do the x-tras in your life eat up your time, energy and life?  What x-tras keep your fire going?

Thanks so much for spending  some of your x-tra time reading me….

Live, Laugh, Love ~

Vanilla Mama

A to Z Challenge - L

A to Z Challenge – L

L is for Lover! Now, Now…don’t get all hot and bothered it is not that kind of Blog!

Yesterday I got my Hot and Sour soup fix taken care of at PeiWei (found a ROCK in my rice, but that’s another story!), and my friend who knows that I love Fortune Cookies grabbed a big ole hand full of them for me. Out of this new influx of Fortunes I grabbed on – “You are a LOVER of words, someday you should write a book.”

My wonderful hubby and I looked at each other, we have been trying to fit more time in for me to write – this blog is a writing exercise of sorts for me. I have so many things inside my head that I need to get out, writing these short little posts helps me to organize my thoughts.  It gets my mind moving again – it has been stagnant for way too long, dormant in a world of busies.

I actually have written a book, I had it published, I got some great reviews had a handful of book signings and then got busy with everyday life. It is really easy to push aside something that you love, that you are a LOVER of. I am a lover of words, how they fit together form a thread and story. When you are a lover of something, there is a certain amount of guilt associated with it.

I do feel guilty when I am sitting here in my padded seat at my kitchen table with paperwork strewn everywhere. I do feel guilty when there is laundry piled up on the bed that needs folding. I do feel guilty when there is a sink full of dirty dishes – I feel so guilty through all of this when I am sitting here being a lover, it is like an affair of the heart.

Choices, balance – I am not really good at them. For many years I made the choice to say that I will start writing again tomorrow…recently I realized that tomorrow never comes.  Did you know that? Think about that for just a second….Tomorrow never really comes, because no matter what it is always today. Today I am sitting here wishing that I could get my life together tomorrow, today I am sitting here wishing that I have time tomorrow to do yoga, today I am wishing that I sit down and make the outline for my next book tomorrow….but tomorrow NEVER comes. It is always today – I need to do these things TODAY. Otherwise the list grows, the piles grow, the depression grows.

L is for Lover – (Again THANK you Dictionary.com)

I am going to skip the first 3 definitions, they don’t apply!

4. a person who has a strong enjoyment or liking for something, as specified: a lover of music.

5. a person who loves, especially a person who has or shows a warm and general affectionate regard for others: a lover of mankind.

What are you a lover of? I am a lover of my family, a lover of my wonderful hubby, a lover of Pop, Tart and Frosting, a lover of words.

Live, Laugh, Love ~

Vanilla Mama

BTW – THANK YOU so much Danni, I am honored that you selected me for the Stylish Blogger Award! Tomorrow (yes, I know what I just said – but REALLY!), I will get the badge up and pick my winners too!

BBTW - LUCKY NUMBERS - 10, 13, 18, 31, 35, 36

Touching Fortune

“You have the ability to touch the lives of many people.”

How true is this? I think that this is true of everyone. From the cashier at your local retail outlet to the President of the United States – everyone has the ability to touch the lives of many people.

How do we touch people? Do we make a minimal impact, barely remembered after the door closes? A negative impact – cringing and avoidance? A positive impact that makes people actually smile on the inside when they think of you? Do people put their guard up around you or do they look forward to being around you?

Ugh – really this one is so sappy that it is a tough one to write and dig deep about.

Honestly, I know I have the ability to touch the lives of many people. If I didn’t realize that what kind of bubble would I be living in?

I don’t have the same chance that the President, a CEO or priest has, but I have my own little corner of the world that I touch. I have my family, my friends, co-workers, random strangers that I come across on a daily basis. In all truth, the random strangers are probably the hardest to “touch.” Mainly because so many of them at this point irritate me to no end…Ouch, did I just type that? Yes, Yes I did.

There seems to be a thoughtless stream of totally selfish, self absorbed, self centered people that I come across constantly. I am going to guess that they haven’t given a whole lot of thought about how they touch the lives of people around them – or if they have I don’t register on any kind of scale that matters.

In all seriousness, what kind of consequence am I to a total stranger as they are driving down the road and cut me off as I try to merge on the highway, to the point I am going to run into a concrete barrier? What kind of consequence am I to a rude person who swears at me over a DOLLAR price mistake (really happened – in front of a lot of people!) – the answer? None! Did they touch my life? YES – especially the overweight, middle aged, obviously balding man in a baseball cap that was so frustrated over a dollar that he felt like he had to yell and swear at me in front of an audience.  (The driver might have made a little more impact if I had crashed into the concrete barrier, but eventually he flipped me the bird and gave a little.)

To that person driving down the road who really felt it necessary to give me a parting gesture and then tailgate me to show his irritation that he had to actually obey the laws of traffic and force me into a concrete wall, to that person who apparently is so frustrated with their own menial life that he feels it necessary to belittle a lowly retail clerk – congratulations!!!  You have touched my life!!

“You have the ability to touch the lives of many people.”

Did you even realize that? Wow – you touched me, heart and soul, and have made me strive to be nothing like you and to never treat anyone that way. My hope for you is that you don’t have to have someone treat you like that to have that particular wake up call. My response to both of these situations could have taken that moment in a totally different direction. I could have flipped off the driver in return and slammed on the brakes, letting him crash us both into the wall…ummm, not a great idea! I could have gotten hostile back at the aging, turkey-hiney of an excuse for a man and called him out then and there for being a rude person – but, I did hold my tongue in check. Yes, I am going off a little right now, but I don’t honestly think this person would ever check out a silly little blog called Vanilla Mama’s Stuff – and if he ever did, he has probably done it to SO many other lowly clerks in his quest to feel better about his life, he wouldn’t recognize me! I offered to take care of the problem – I offered to fix what was wrong, but that was not what was wanted…I couldn’t make him happy, unless I was crying…that might have helped him feel better?!

In both cases it came down to a choice - and, I'll continue to make the same choice (I hope!).

“You have the ability to touch the lives of many people.”

So, if I have touched your life in some way, shape or form – I really hope it is positive. I hope that when you think about me you smile a little. If not, if for some reason you cringe when you think of me or you avoid me at all costs – I am sorry. I know that I am not everybody’s cup of tea but I will treat you to a cup of coffee and we can chat.

Live, Laugh, Love ~

Vanilla Mama

Lucky Numbers (cause think of the lives you could touch with a million dollars!): 16, 19, 35, 38, 42, 46.

FYI – I do not have anything against retail clerks – I am one! I do however notice that many people seem to think we as a customer service profession, are human targets to vent at. Next time you check out at a store – smile J! Most of us do this job because we like people – we’ll smile back. (At least I will!)